A senior Russian MP holds that the recent White House statement of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government is as false as the notorious reports about Iraqi WMDs.

“The data about Assad’s use of chemical weapons is fabricated
by the same facility that made up the lies about Saddam Hussein’s
weapons of mass destruction. Obama is walking George W. Bush’s
path,” the head of the Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee
Aleksey Pushkov tweeted.

The Russian MP was referring to the 2003 invasion in Iraq
prompted by the US and UK claims that Saddam Hussein possessed
weapons of mass destruction that threatened neighboring nations.
The UN probe into the matter was underway as the invasion started
and no traces of WMD have been discovered on Iraqi territory
since the war ended, prompting accusations that the US
administration and special services fabricated the data to get an
excuse to start the conflict.

In comments to Russian news agencies Pushkov noted that the
supplies of arms from the US to the Syrian rebels would hardly
lead to the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s regime. He
added that the government in Syria is supported by “a
significant, if not the larger, part of the population” and
the Syrian military “show a high degree of resistance.”

Pushkov also forecast that the United States would now attempt to
further escalate the situation.

“Now they are arming the rebels but then they will come to
some form of direct military involvement. We cannot exclude the
possibility of cruise missile strikes and if this measure brings
no result – of direct military intervention,” he said.

The statement was made shortly after US authorities publicly
announced that they had proof that pro-government forces used
chemical weapons, like the nerve agent sarin in the Syrian
conflict, killing at least 150 people. At the same time, the US
side claimed that there was no proof about similar actions from
the rebels’ side.

US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes has told the press
that President Barack Obama has decided to boost the US support
to the Syrian opposition forces and that this would now include
military support. The detailed orders will be issued within the
nearest weeks after Obama consults with the Congress, the
official added.

Earlier last week UK and France said that their probes into the
alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria showed that the
pro-government forces did it at least once causing casualties
among rebels and called the international community for immediate
action. Many officials, including top Russian politicians, noted
that the impartiality of British and French researchers is under
question and urged an independent probe.

The UN is currently preparing its own independent investigation,
but it might take a long time. Syrian government has said it was
ready to accept the UN delegation and help with the
investigation.

In late March one of the conflicting parties in Syria allegedly
used a sarin-charged missile near the city of Aleppo. The
government and rebels now accuse each other of the attack that
killed at least 25 people.

While the UK, France and now the United states accuse pro-Assad
forces, Turkish media said in early June that the country’s
security forces had found sarin gas in the homes of members of
the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front – one of the main groups
opposing the Syrian government.

Russian officials have repeatedly condemned the use of chemical
weapons and urged an all-sided and unbiased research into all
incidents connected with the issue.